Way Off Key

I predicted at the time New Zealand replaced Australia on the UN Security Council that the latter’s realistic attitude and voting records concerning Israel and peace would be abandoned once NZ took up its seat.

Michael Kuttner

Despite protestations of even handedness the plain hard truth is that one cannot espouse anything remotely resembling a realistic policy if one continues to ignore inconvenient facts. Moreover a foreign policy driven by trade considerations will always favour the power of the oil rich Arab States. At the same time pretending that abysmal human rights records, support of terror groups, boycotts, delegitimization and lack of democratic governance are matters which can be overlooked, does not augur well for any sort of truly balanced approach to the core problem of a lack of peace in the region let alone between Israel and Arabs.

Admittedly, New Zealand has a legitimate right to pursue any sort of foreign policy it deems advantageous to its interests. Those who formulate such policies should think very carefully indeed before they advocate let alone try to coerce via the corrupt United Nations a series of resolutions which will only guarantee further disasters rather than peace and tolerance.

Recent pronouncements by New Zealand Government representatives at the UN, in Wellington and during a visit by the PM to the Gulf States & Saudi Arabia leave one wondering just how disconnected from reality those currently peddling previously failed schemes are. Joining the pathetic parade of those in Washington and Paris will neither bring peace nor any sort of glory to NZ. It is understandable that being a small country situated way down under, membership of the Security Council brings with it some sort of burning desire to make an impression. If at the same time it earns brownie points with trade partners who also happen to be serial human rights abusers then according to the blinkered views of those who are in charge, so much the better. There seems to be no other explanation for the hare brained remarks made in recent weeks.

At first glance, an effort to revive the stalled peace talks between Israel and the Hamas/Fatah Authority seems an eminently sensible idea. The trouble is that the reasons for previous failures have not been acknowledged. Repeating mindless mantras without learning the lessons inherent in peddling flawed theories can only result in further failures and violence. Failure to tackle the daily outpouring of hate, Jihad and incitement against Jews and Israel is no recipe for attaining genuine peace and tolerance. Ignoring the root causes of Islamic intolerance to the very idea of a Jewish right to a homeland and intolerance of Faiths other than Islam, will not bring brotherhood or respect for others any closer.

Thus, when John Key spoke at the recent so called peace conference in Turkey, he glaringly omitted any reference to the basic reasons for the mayhem convulsing the Arab world today and which also afflicts other non Arab Moslem countries and societies. It is far easier and more popular to obsess endlessly about Israel which of course is a prime requisite for membership of the UN Security Council in particular and the UN in general.

Here are some of the subjects the New Zealand Prime Minister could usefully have openly spoken about in Turkey as well as in the various Arab countries he has just visited in the Gulf region.

He should have supported the statements of the Egyptian President who called for reform of Islam so that fanatics and terrorists, who act in its name, are defeated. While in Turkey he could have usefully questioned why that country still denies any culpability for the Armenian genocide one hundred years ago. Why did he ignore the persecution and murder of Christians now taking place in various Arab countries and other places where Moslems are a sizeable minority (e.g. Nigeria)? There was no mention of Jews being targeted by Islamic groups in many countries because of their ethnicity, religion or attachment to Israel.

He waxed eloquently about the necessity to defeat extremist groups. Who are these extremist groups? One would imagine following the politically correct pronouncements of those concerned that these extremists are some anonymous species or interplanetary visitors from another universe. Just like John Cleese in Fawlty Towers it seems that the only response is “not to mention the war” or in other words do not under any circumstances mention the phrase Islamic extremists and terrorists. This tactic follows a well worn track espoused by most of the international community who prefer instead to lay the blame for the current mayhem at the feet of Israel.

In order to help the NZ Government to understand what it prefers to ignore, here, courtesy of PMW is just one report on reality as presented by those whom NZ wants to support in creating another terror State in our very midst.

New Zealand is working we are told on a plan to revive the misnamed peace talks and it seems that they are looking to support the French at the UN in this task. It is therefore instructive to listen closely as to what the French Foreign Minister had to say recently. As reported in the media, he stated that “the purpose of a Security Council resolution is to level pressure from the UN to DICTATE clear parameters for negotiations which must be concluded within 24 months.” Forget apparently about any other considerations, by hook and by crook, fair means or foul, Israel must be forced to agree to its own suicide pact, similar to the deathly piece of paper Chamberlain and the French forced upon Czechoslovakia at Munich.

At this point I would like to recount a statement made by Jeanne Kirkpatrick, a former US ambassador to the UN some thirty years ago. In a brilliant summation of what the UN Security Council is really all about when it comes to Israel, she said: “the Security Council more closely resembles a mugging than either a political debate or an effort at problem solving. Israel is cast as a villain in a melodrama that features many attackers and a great deal of verbal violence. The goal is isolation and humiliation of the victim.”

This therefore is the body which New Zealand fought so tenaciously to be elected to. Having attained a seat, it is assiduously planning with the help of other suspects, in dictating a “final solution” to all Middle East problems, by ensuring that the region’s only true democracy is sacrificed on the alter of hypocritical diplomacy.

In the overall scheme of things, New Zealand has been and no doubt continues to view itself as a true friend of the Jewish State. When compared to the track record of others at the UN, this is certainly correct. It is therefore tragic that it now is in the position of being responsible for a resolution which may very well endanger us.

Without a brave acknowledgement that those who actively seek and promote the demise of Israel and its citizens must first put their own houses in order, nothing useful will be achieved. Without recognizing the validity of the San Remo Treaty and the fact that there has never ever been a Palestinian Arab State with Jerusalem as its Capital, resolutions to surrender historical and strategic parts of our already small country, is an exercise in futility. Why John Key and his Government should waste endless time on these UN charades is anybody’s guess, especially as there are so many real world tragedies and abuses happening in other places.

At present Israel is treating the injured in Nepal, being one of the first countries to send aid and having established the largest field hospital there. Many of the countries which demonize Israel are conspicuously absent.

In order to be a genuine player on the world stage it is necessary to articulate uncomfortable truths instead of playing along with the morally corrupt double standards which these days seem to dominate world forums.

Comments

Every Tom, Dick and John nowadays seems to delude himself into thinking that obsessing about the only decent regime and society in the Middle East will elevate him, at no cost, to cherub status.
Hypocrisy and injustice.

Perhaps Prime Minister Key needs to spend time in resolving the discrimination of the Maoris instead of bashing Israel. I agree that before PM Key lectures Israel, he should have emphasized the unrest in the Arab World, the persecution of Christians in Egypt, Libya, Iraq, etc. The Armenian genocide needed to be mentioned in public when PM was in Turkey – the Turks don’t have any oil and need NZ more than NZ needs them. Israel is a very small country in the world and there are bigger problems facing the UN, i.e., Iran’s nuclear program, which needs to be stopped.

Evenhandedness on the issue of the Arab’Palestinian’/Islamic war against Israel essentially means adopting policies and rhetoric that reflect a belief that Israel’s wish to live is outweighed by its enemies’ wish to kill it.
The Australian Labour Party has no qualms about its preference for the latter.
Some in the Liberal Party also do not hide this preference.
We are not fooled by their dissimulation.

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